The apprenticeship
by Seriya Silvermist
Summary: Gilan follows Halt from his home in Caraway Feif and what does he get...the river. Semi serious but not lacking humor if I say so myself
1. Prolog

*Disclaimer I do not own RA* My friend is co-writing this, so if they say my name they are mine. (This might not flow very well since we have totally different writing styles)

Gilan crept as silently as he could after Halt, trying to copy the rangers actions. He moved as silently one fifteen year-old could without any training whatsoever. Moving from one patch of cover to the next, he started believing that he was good at this. Well, either that, or Halt was blind as a bat, and deaf as an old person.

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Halt sighed inwardly as he heard Gilan step on a branch, for the fifth time that day. Still, he is better than most kids following a ranger. That is, the ones that do follow us, he 29 had said that his apprentice stepped on his foot three times and he had to pretend not to notice. He also took note that he could see Gilan plain as day if he so much as tilted his head sideways. The boy stuck out like a thumb at a finger rally, or a mountain by a bunch of hills.

He decided that he would do something so devious to Gilan, it would be unforgivable to most people if another person who was not a ranger had done it. He froze, and waited to see if any sound came from the boy. Hearing none, he went on with his plan, and started a fire.

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Gilan didn't see the ranger stop abruptly and almost ran straight into him. Wait, he thought curiously, he's stopped. What is he... lunch? Oh man, I'm hungry. For in his perfectly thought-through plan, he forgot to even bring a snack. Maybe if I could climb that apple tree... He began thinking. No Gilan. You're a horrible climber. You know it. You don't want to give yourself away early enough that Halt can send you home. Not even the slightest inkling of the thought that Halt might already know he was there ever crossed his mind as he slithered over to a nearby bush, conveniently behind Halt.

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Halt smiled at the reaction Gilan gave when Halt stopped for lunch. (Inwardly smiling of course. It was extremely rare to see Halt smile.) He thought he would further torture the boy by cooking what he recently learned as Gilan's favorite food. The ranger looked in his saddle pack, and found the ultimate weapons of mass consmumption. Soon, the bacon was sizzling over the small campfire he set up. Oh, and of course there was coffee brewing. What else would the ranger drink?

Halt started rummaging around his pack, and took out a loaf of bread. Slowly and deliberately, he unsheathed his saxe, and sliced the bread in half. Then, once more, he returned to his pack, and took out tomatoes and lettuce. He put some lettuce and tomatoes on the bread. Soon, the bacon would be finished, and he could combine all the ingredients to make a delicious BLTWC (Bacon, lettuce, and tomato with coffee).

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Gilan's mouth watered as he crouched down, low in the bushes. Halt must have really liked BLTWCs if he eats them even outside our house! Don't think of food. It will only make you hungrier. Don't think of food. Don't think of food. Of course, when you're telling yourself not to think about something you tend to think about it more.

Soon afterwords, a boy fell out of a bush, and onto a grumpy old ranger who was about to eat a sandwich. Immediately, the boy was thrown into a stream, and was seen drying his clothes while the triumphant ranger munched on a delightfully good sandwich.

Later that day, Gilan came home, only to find out that his father had approved him being with Halt, and let him become an apprentice to the man. So the boy and ranger left, one trodding desparately in need of a horse, and a change of clothes that was not wet.


	2. Chapter 1- chores, cold and consideratio

**hey all sorry for the late update having technical diffucltys Actually mine not my friends *disclaimer I do not own RA **Chapter1-Chores, Cold and consideration  
-Seriya Silvermist

General P.O.V  
"I think the water is running low …we should run down to the river and get some " Halt said to his apprentice  
Gilan started walking to the door and stopped in the frame of it. "I thought you coming?"  
"If you would have thought about it you wouldn't have asked" Halt raised one eyebrow but otherwise remained emotionless.  
"But I thoug-"  
Halt sighed loudly "You're an apprentice you're not ready to think"  
Gilan gave his best evil eye to Halt. The old ranger was starting to annoy him.  
"What's wrong do you need to use the latrine, boy, you look a bit constipated?" Halt said innocently "now go!  
Gilan ran terrified by Halt's anger.

36 buckets of water later Gilan slumped exhaustedly into Halt's cabin.  
"Took you long enough, don't you think" Halt droned wearily. "It's getting cold, go chop some firewood will you?"  
"No, I have done enough today."  
"Have you?" Halt raised his eyebrow  
" Gilan decided to not anger the grizzled ranger anymore and stomped outside to do his chores

"Do you know how to cook, boy?" Halt asked his apprentice.  
"Of course not, I lived in a castle." Gilan looked bewildered at Halt's question.  
"Do you at least know how to make coffee?"  
"I've never liked that stuff." Gilan knew that Halt knew he was lying  
"It's going to be rather cold tonight, don't you think, boy? 'Halt asked randomly  
"Well that's only natural since it's snowing, why do you say so?" Gilan asked slightly confused.  
"The trees are rather snowy"  
'Yes, why the heck are you saying these things!" The aggravated apprentice yelled  
Halt looked as calm as ever "you'll be spending the night in them."

Gilan P.O.V  
Gilan found out that Halt was not kidding when he said he would spend the night in a tree.  
Right before bed Halt pushed him out the door and locked it behind him  
"you will pay for this" Gilan muttered  
Halt yelled "tell that to the wild animals that come to eat you for dinner" Through the door of his tiny cabin. "I think they quite like the taste of nobility"  
Gilan felt angry, he absolutely, hated Halt, his non-smiling face and his double edged praise. Earlier Halt had told him, after five hours of cleaning that his cabin was almost clean enough for pigs to live in.  
Gilan found what seemed like a good spot to camp for the night. If you could even call it camping with no supplies. He tried to climb a tree and promptly fell on his butt. No he thought, not a good climber and made a mental note of that fact.  
It was going to be a long night on the cold and snowy ground Gilan sighed and tried to get some sleep.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm…unicorns….rainbows...loli-AHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHH!"  
Halt was getting annoyed, and Gilan was not getting up. "He just needs encouragement Halt thought." So he proceeded to dump water on his sleeping apprentice.  
He stared at his wet apprentice.  
"What the heck did for do that for!" Gilan yelled as he pushed his wet hair out of his eyes.  
"You wouldn't wake up." He said simply  
He was thinking of heading to the castle to see Lady Pauline, today but unfortunately he had his annoying apprentice to take care of.  
Gilan interrupted his thinking "Why are we up so early?"  
"We have a lot of work to do" Gilan was apprenticed in the middle of winter, so he had a huge disadvantage in his assessments in the spring. He had only been with Halt for two weeks and the gathering was in five. He grabbed his cloak and walked into the clearing outside his cabin  
Gilan joined him in a few minutes. Halt handed him a bundle of something wrapped in cloth and Gilan opened it enthusiastically.  
His apprentice looked up from the bundle of weapons and a ranger cloak "Now this is where the fun begins."


	3. Chapter 2- blazing anger

Yay 2 chapters in 1 day to make up for updating late! Chapter 2- Blazing anger  
-Seriya Silvermist  
Gilan P.O.V  
5:00 was way too early for Gilan to wake up, and luckily Halt did not bother to dump water on him this morning.  
"Get up!" Halt yelled from the front of the cabin "Were going out."  
"ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh where are we going?" "Why this early." "Do rangers always get up this early." "Halt, when do you get up" Gilan asked  
"Questions, questions, please remind me to never take an apprentice again" "Now let's go"

Halt and Gilan walked through the woods for about three hours. Well Halt rode any way. Gilan thought.  
"Where are we, boy?" Halt finally broke the silence.  
"Somewhere, about 15 miles west of Redmont castle?" Gilan asked unsure, he didn't know the land around Redmont because he grew up in Caraway fief.  
"Is that a question or a statement?"  
"A statement?"  
Halt rolled his eyes to the heavens.  
"What did I do?"  
Halt rode ahead and was muttering something about young people and their-well Gilan was not allowed to repeat the exact words. He had to run at full speed to catch up with Halt.  
They arrived at a dingy looking hut in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded with a high fence, it had a stable (that was none too clean, mind you) and a whole heard of not that impressive horses.  
The horses were not at all clean and were extremely shaggy. They were tiny and that was the end of it. Gilan was used to giant battlehorses at castle Caraway and had ridden them for as long as he remembered.  
An old and greasy man walked up to them "'ello ranger." "Who's this young'un"  
"Hello Bob this is Gilan, my new apprentice" "Gilan this is Old Bob, the ranger horse trainer"  
"Hello,….sir" Gilan said unsure of what to call Bob  
"I insist that you call me Bob"  
"So…why are we here Halt." Gilan asked his master  
"To get a horse, you halfwit "Halt snapped  
'"Okay" Gilan said looking a bit defensive  
Old Bob looked from ranger to apprentice ranger, than broke the awkward silence by whistling, a horse trotted up to Bob. "This is Blaze, your horse"  
"If you could even call that a horse." Gilan muttered  
"What was that, boy" Halt challenged  
"I said if you could even call that thing a horse"  
"What else could it be?" Halt raised an eyebrow  
"A Large dog" He said matter of factly  
"Large dog, huh" Old Bob looked offended "Than ride her, she'll run any battlehorse to the ground"  
"Maybe, I will" Gilan replied arrogantly and climbed on Blaze. His horse's muscles tensed the next thing he knew he was rocketed into the air. Gilan landed on his back and the air was knocked out of him.  
"That little devil!" Gilan said and added some more colorful language of his own.  
Halt and Old Bob were too busy laughing to notice Gilan's foul language.  
"Learned your lesson, boy?" Halt asked "serves you right"  
Gilan nodded, shell-shocked.  
Old Bob snickered "Believe me now, young'un"  
Gilan nodded again, still sitting on the ground.  
"Why….why did she throw me."  
"Wasn't anything you did, Blaze is trained to do that" Old Bob replied  
"How do I not get her to do that"  
"Every ranger horse is specially trained, they have a password." "Blaze's is brown eyes.  
"Brown eyes?"  
"Don't say it to me, say it to the horse" the old man crackled "never gets old"  
"Brown eyes" Gilan whispered to the horse

Blaze P.O.V  
Blaze studied the arrogant boy in front of her.  
"A large dog" said the boy who was arrogant to the man who was a stranger  
Nice stable man looked like a human out of air "A large dog, huh. "Then ride her, She'll run any battlehorse to the ground.  
"Thank you nice stable man" She had always thought of herself beautiful, and a large dog was pushing it.  
"Maybe I will'  
Time to teach boy who was arrogant a lesson.

Old Bob P.O.V  
"hahhahahahhahahhahahahahaha" Old bob was cracking up Blaze had thrown Gilan even though he had told her the password.  
"That little she devil" and several other words he was sure Gilan had picked up from solders in the castle.  
Halt interrupted Gilan's rant of curse words. "Language, and you kiss your granny with that mouth'  
"Some could say the same to you ranger Halt" Old Bob laughed

Gilan P.O.V  
She looked at him on the ground as if to say why would you do a silly thing like that? Then came the string of curse words flying out his mouth.  
"Language and you kiss your granny with that mouth." Halt yelled at him  
"Some could say the same to you" Old Bob retaliated "try to mount her again"  
Gilan hesitantly mounted blaze again. She didn't throw him this time. Next he tried to take her a few steps. She still didn't throw him, so he urged her in to a slow cantor. Then into a fast gait.  
"Yes! I did it" Gilan yelled "whoooooooo" and Blaze immediately threw him on the ground.  
He walked her back to the stables, afraid that she was going to throw him again. He thought that it was pitiful that he had to say again.  
As he was approaching the stables, Halt leaned down whispered Blaze's password into her ear and continued to mount her. Blaze let him mount without any problem. He rode her around the corral.  
"What I don't get is how you rode those beasts of battlehorses, and when we put you on a nice and calm horse, you're immediately trying to get off again" Halt ranted

*disclaimer I do not own RA*


	4. Chapter 3- training

**Hullo citizens of Arluen!**

**Anyway, sorry for dropping off the face of the earth. I would love it if y'all would review and let me know how I'm doing. I'm relatively new at this, XD! It's probably obvious. This chappie is filler and Halt is a bit OOC. And many thanks to my new beta Unfocused and Confused! He is great!**

Chapter 3- Training -Seriya Silvermist

THAWACK…HISS….THWACK  
Gilan's last five arrows had missed the target by at least a meter. This was not going to cut at the gathering in a week. Frankly, Halt thought that he was going to lose his first apprentice because Gilan couldn't even hit a target, but the boy was promising in field of unseen movement. Crowley might cut the boy some slack. When Halt had taken an apprentice, he hadn't expected a hopeless one like Gilan.

"Well, why you can't hit a target!" Halt yelled angrily "Blaze could shoot better than you"

"Blaze can't even hold a bow!" Gilan yelled outraged

"My point exactly" Halt retorted "Now, hundred more shots"

"Halt, what I don't ge-"

"You're an apprentice you don't get anything"

"Why are you pushing me harder than normal?" Gilan yelled at Halt

"If you listened maybe you'd know!" "Now a hundred more shots"

The clearing behind Halt's cabin was filled from craters from Gilan's arrows and the trees were peppered with holes. Halt himself was sitting in the veranda sipping coffee, watching Gilan work, and occasionally offering criticism. But that was then. Now, Halt was pacing through the clearing and constantly yelling at Gilan to do better. Something was going on and it was plain obvious to Gilan. No amount of Halt's lying was going to keep him from knowing.

….97…98….99…100  
Gilan was finally done with his shots. By that time the targets looked like someone had purposely stuck a porcupine to the trees on which his targets were on.

His thoughts were interrupted by Halt  
"Now that your atrocious shooting is over with, shall we go and work on unseen movement"

"I didn't think it was that ba-"

"It was, now cowl up" Halt ordered

Gilan followed Halt deeper in to the forest. He inwardly sighed (inwardly because Halt frowned upon outward expressions) as they were doing that exercise again. It included Gilan had to track Halt down without Halt seeing him, but Halt always saw him, no matter what Gilan did.

"Three…..two…..one, begin!" Halt called

Gilan raced into the dense forest surrounding castle Redmont. He stopped at a clearing out of breath, looking for any signs of Halt being there. Little did he know, Halt was following close behind.

Gilan looked around his surroundings, mentally kicking himself for running blindly into the forest instead of biding his time. Gilan's eyes were glued to the ground and Halt crept closer and closer.

Halt had been following his damn apprentice for twenty minutes now and Gilan had still not even noticed. In fact Gilan hadn't even left the clearing; he just stood there looking at the ground. To say the least Halt was mad and Gilan was going to pay for disregarding all he had ever taught him.

He saw his opening and crept up on his oblivious companion. Closer and closer he got, his cowl shadowing his darkened face. Halt loved his job, to say the least. He walked up behind Gilan and put a hand on his shoulder.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" His unsuspecting apprentice screamed. He turned around slowly and met Halt's unwavering gaze.

"You aren't listening to me."

"What do you mean?"

"You just disregarded everything I have ever taught you" Halt glared at him  
"It's like you never were my apprentice"

"Never your apprentice!" Gilan looked infuriated "That's taking it a bit far don't you think!"

"I don't know how McNeil even stood you, or even taught you in that case!" "You're impossible"

"You don't even think what it's like to know or be around you" Gilan shot back "You never give praise, you never seen to care about anything and you're worse than McNeil, far worse." His voice cracking with emotion

Halt looked around the clearing, the light was past gone and moonlight was filtering through the trees. It would have been a beautiful if not what was going on with him and the boy.

Gilan's voice broke through Halt's thinking. "Never even the littlest sign of affection or appreciation for all I've done" his voice cracked agian and Gilan mentally kicked him self for it

"Gilan, we don't have time for this," Halt almost pleaded. He had dealt with the most terrifying things a man could have named, but this was new ground, and he had no idea what to do with his teary eyed apprentice.

"No, you don't have time for anything it seems"

"Gilan" a warning tone creeping into his voice

"What do you want me to be, you?" "I've only been training for a couple of weeks."

Halt was over his head here. Bandits were a piece of cake, emotional boys, not so much. He looked at his young brown haired apprentice. "I'm not an easy person to deal with I know, but I have never thought about pushing you too hard I was just being…

Halts voice trailed off but he thought Gilan got the point. "Look, there is a gathering of all the fifty rangers and their apprentices and, well the apprentices are tested."

"Oh…. What happens if you 'fail' this test" Gilan asked looking worried and still very much angry.

"You don't continue your training."

"Oh" Gilan responded softly, self-doubt rang in his words.

**Beta Notes**

**I did not, in any way, change the wording in the beginning. I am amazing.**

**Anyhow, onto the actual stuff. It took a short amount of time, really to edit this, so that can speak volumes of her (your, if you are reading this Seriya) improvement. The end of Beta Notes.**


	5. Chapter 4- What Happened at Harin's Inn

**Hullo citizens of Araluen!**

**I'm soooooooo sorry about waiting so long. I was (and am) very busy. I think this was my best chapter** **yet! SO REVIEW, I WANT TO KNOW!**

Chapter 4- What Happened at Harin's Inn.

-Seriya Silvermist

Gilan and Halt sat in the corner of a small and homely inn in the town of Harin, their cloaks removed to not frighten or make people wary of them. The town lie eighty kilometers due west of castle Redmont. Harin was a dirty and rather poor district of the fief.

"Coffee," Halt said briefly to the serving girl that was standing by their table

"What do you want,….sir?" She giggled and batted her eyes at Gilan.

He smiled back, his face taking on a playful expression. "Please call me Gilan"

"Oh," she smiled flirtatiously "is there anything else I can get you"

"Well now that you ask I would rather like to dance."

The serving girl gazed around the dingy inn, looking for the matron who owned the establishment. "Well I am a serving girl, it is rather frowned upon to dance with a customer. "

"Well it also helps that breaking the rules is my specialty." Gilan gave a charming smile to the blonde, pretty and cheerful girl, and Halt snorted.

"Are you-"

"Of course I'm sure," Gilan told the blonde as he led her to the center of the inn next to where the minstrel was playing. They joined the other couples on the dusty dance floor of the inn. He put his hands on her waist as she put hers on his shoulders. They started swaying to the slow music, and she started to sing softly.

Gilan joined in the well-known refrain. It had been played many times at castle Caraway, and this song always seemed to stick in his head

_Though_

_I_

_Knew_

_I did not have a chance_

_I took a step out_

_On a branch_

_And look where that left me_

The song slowed from its frantic pace and went back to the slow and steady one of the verses.

_As drunk as a deer_

_And blind_

_As a bat_

_I wandered and wandered_

_Till I came to a friendly mat_

_Of all things_

_It had to be a king's_

The pace increased once more,

_Though_

_I_

_Knew_

_I did not have a chance_

_I took a step out_

_On a branch_

_And look where that left me_

_The king's shiny ring_

_Was sing'n_

_My name_

_A theif_

_I was to be_

_Thought_

I

I did _not have a chance_

_I took a step out_

_On a branch_

_And look where that left me_

_They look down_

_Upon me_

_I just look and see_

_How many pounds_

_That I found_

_In the_

_Pockets of t…_

Gilan's voice trailed off as he looked over the girls shoulder. Halt, who was sitting at the table in the corner was joined by a strawberry blonde. Halt laughed at something the strange man said. "Uh well I…need to go" Gilan stuttered, at a loss for words

"Why" The girl questioned. Then she saw the expression on Gilan's face and her smile dropped off her face. "Well could you maybe tell me your name, so that I have a name to put with this charming memory?"

"As long as I get yours"

"Mira, Mira Erinsdaughter."

"Well, mine's Gilan Davidsson."

"If I may ask," Mira tried to prolong the conversation "Where are you from?"

"Caraway Fief," Gilan answered trying to act casual.

"You said Caraway?!" She looked bewildered "Davidsson as in Sir David, the battlemaster!" Mira yelled and took a step back. The whole inn stopped and looked up at the dancing couple.

"….Yes."

"I'm sorry my lord," Mira stuttered "I didn't know!"

"Mira," he looked at the pretty blonde serving girl "You didn't treat me any different than anyone else before."

"But I didn't know my lord"

"Stop with the my lord, Mira"

"But-"

"No" By that time they had let go of each other and just stood awkwardly in the middle of the dusty dance floor. Mira's face was a picture of horror and Gilan's just looked apologetic. Together they had created a big scene, and let the whole inn know his identity.

"I…..I think I'm going to…..get back to work, my lor- I mean Gilan" Mira hurried of.

Gilan weaved his way through the crowd of people, gaping open-mouthed at him. He tried to focus his attention on something other than the crowd, anywhere else, he desperately looked to the dusty ceiling, the dirty counter, the front door that was hanging by one hinge, his gaze finally fell on the man talking to Halt. As he carefuly made his way over he couldn't help but overhear part of their conversation.

The stranger spoke first "Halt, do you really think I should transfer him? Do you really have that little faith in his skill?"

"I am almost certain he will fail, I don't want this to hinder my reputation!"

"Hal,t it's a week before the gathering, I can't exactly transfer him now!"

"It can be do-"

The swing of the broken inn door interrupted Halt's next words. A tall man entered, he was rather young- middle aged, even Gilan could tell that from behind. The stranger turned and scanned the inn; meeting the eyes of every person as he went. He turned around, he eyes lied on Gilan's, and Gilan saw the man was a warrior. The mysterious man had a face married with scars; he would have been handsome if not for them. He started towards Gilan, a loose smile gracing his face; the smile never reached the man's eyes. He pulled out a large broad sword; now dangerously close to Gilan, and walked right by him. Gilan now noticed the man's eyes were not on him but the ones he was spying on, Halt.

Halt was complaining to whatever had possessed the strawberry-blonde in front of him. "Your small head can't even comprehend, the fact that I don't want to be humiliated when he gets kicked out!" Halt snarled viciously.

"It's too late we both know that! Halt, you have a too big ego, and it needs to be knocked down a notch." The strawberry blonde said boldly to the grim ranger. Almost no one had the courage to insult Halt that way, but most people did not know him as well as he did.

"You think I have too big of an ego" Halt said dangerously calm, like peace before a storm. The strawberry-blonde knew this voice all too well. "Would you like to tell me all about-"

"Halt!" The strawberry-blonde interrupted as a deadly down ward stroke cleaved towards the ranger's head."

Strawberry-Blonde stranger's POV

At that instant my dagger seemingly appeared into my hand, and in a robotic, but fluid motion came back to just above my shoulder, and release. My knife missed, and my oldest friend was doomed.

**I apologize if the song was horrendous. I am not a song writer. I would like to know your thoughts about the strawberry blonde stranger (Or if I made it way to easy to guess) The beta job for this story is now open if anyone wants it please tell me!**

**reminder: REVIEW!**

**(B/N) Hi, Unfocused here. This may possibly-probably-most likely will be my last beta of this story. I feel happy that the last chapter I may do for this goes out with a cliffhanger (because everyone loves them, right?). If you happen to wonder my reason, just go to my newest story.**


	6. Chapter 5- Commandant

**Hullo citizens of Araluen!**

**Well in this chapter we have the first fight scene I have ever written! So please I want to hear back! I have a new, and amazing beta; Savannah Silverstone (love your pen name by the way) So thank you very much!**

Chapter 5- Commandant -Seriya Silvermist

_Previously: At that instant my dagger seemingly appeared into my hand, and in a robotic, but fluid motion came back to just above my shoulder, and release. My knife missed, and my oldest friend was doomed._

Gilan's POV

I saw the blow before it happened.

Years of training with a sword prepared me but this was no wooden sword. This was real. My mentor was going to die. This fact took a little while to set in. The ginger who had been talking with Halt before threw a knife in one fluid and practiced motion.

He was skilled. You could tell that by the way he handled himself. The knife missed by hairsbreadth, an inch that could spell the difference between life and death.

A ragged scream tore at my throat, and tears blinded my eyes. It all seemed so unrealistic. I was so used to training fields, but nothing could compare nor prepare me for this. As thought I was someone else; I jumped forward, and tackled the man with the broad sword to the floor.

He reacted quickly, swinging a right punch to the side of my head. It landed on my left temple; my vision momentarily blurred, and colors danced in my vision. I could barely see. The punch had been so hard it split his knuckles, and his scarlet blood ended up dripping over me**.**

I kneed him in the stomach, my training from Halt kicking in. The man fell back and doubled over, giving me the chance to slam my knuckles into his jaw, jerking his head back. The man skidded back across the floor.

I pinned him to the wooden floor of the dank inn; hands pushing on his shoulders, and knees on the man's thighs. I didn't realize that I forgot to pin his lower legs until he kicked in between mine. My grasp on the man faltered, and he used this to his advantage by pinning me.

"So you're the apprentic…" The strange man started before his face turned into one of pain then surprise. That was when I saw the arrow protruding through his chest. He was shot.

The limp dead body fell on top of mine, but all I could think about was how much my head hurt. The headache was like none I had ever experienced. My hand found my left temple. It was warm and sticky with my own blood. My hand came back bright red, and the blood I had felt on my head was my own not his. My vision started blurring, and I knew no more.

Halt POV

Curse my damn apprentice's stupidity. That was all I could think at that moment. Because he had to interfere, he was sitting half dead on the dirty floor of Harin's inn. I could have handled the strange man by myself.

"Halt!" a voice snapped at me "If you don't stop pacing you're going to wear a hole in the floor. Help me with _your apprentice_"

I snapped back to reality when I saw Crowley on the floor with my apprentice who was bleeding out.

"He needs bandages" Crowley looked up at me.

_What was that inn girl's name?_ I wondered.

For once I actually welcomed one of Gilan's flirts in the room with me. "Mira Erinsdaughter, get me bandages quickly" I snapped. I had listened in on Gilan and Mira's whole conversation, and was fully aware of Gilan eavesdropping on me and Crowley earlier. Now he was almost dead because of me. I was his guardian; I was supposed to watch over him, and right when I was actually semi fond of him, I realize he might die.

_What would his father say?_

I knew the man, and I realized his son was his pride and joy. I knew the kingdom's finest battle master would break, if that were to happen. I couldn't let that happen, not now, not ever.

General POV

Crowley knelt on the floor next to the apprentice's limp body, wrapping the bandages the serving girl had brought him on Gilan's still bleeding head. He had tried to staunch the blood, but no matter what Crowley did it still wouldn't stop.

"Halt!" he snapped "Write a dispatch, and send it to all the Rangers and the Barons including the king. Have it say….. Something along the lines of Halt was attacked in the middle of an inn; Crowley says keep vigilant; this might not be an accident."

"Crowley is this really necessary?" Halt said as monotone as usual

"Halt, you can't say this was accident."

"And why not?" He retorted sarcastically

"Well a man walks into an inn, and proceeds to attack a ranger in disguise. Halt this isn't an accident!"

"What do you say it is?" Halt asked as he studied the dirty interior of the tavern

"I don't know!" Crowley yelled; frustrated with Halt's pig headedness. The other people in the inn looked at the two rangers.

"Halt" Crowley muttered "Go and grab my cloak, it's on Picad." He knelt again before the apprentice, and fastened the bandages on his head. Halt returned with Crowley's cloak; his cowl already covering his face.

Without bothering to look up from his work, Crowley said "I'm going to take him to my cabin; you take the dispatches to Caraway. David will want the news in person."

"Crowley, he is my apprentice shouldn't I stay?" Halt tried to reason

"You wanted to get rid of him only an hour before this all happened."

With that Halt left the dingy inn and rode towards Caraway fief.

**There was a good point brought up to me by my beta; Gilan probably would have been knocked out when the man first punched him, but that would have ruined the whole fight scene. I decided to leave it in there. So I apologize forthe unlikeliness of the scene.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**please review! They encourage me to write!**

**-Silvermist **


	7. Chapter 6- Grief

**Hullo citizens of Araluen**

**This was a hard chapter to write; I hope its okay. I really want to know what you think, SO REVIEW! It is a bit short; kind of filler. Thanks again to our great beta Savannah Silverstone! DID ANYONE SEE THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG TRAILER? It was amazing! I watched it five times! **

Chapter 6-Grief

-Seriya Silvermist

Halt POV

I arrived at the borders of the town outside Caraway castle. The grey giant rose high above the thriving town.

At that certain day, the town gave off a gloomy atmosphere as though all the citizens were aware that the battlemaster's son was near death. Clouds closed in, and covered the ever blue sky; turning it into a dreary shade of grey.

Then the rain came, pounding like tears against the ground.

Abelard and I cantered towards the castle to bring the news to Sir David; a dear, and old friend. There was no doubt that he would be at first mad, and then unbelievably sad. Gilan was obviously the man's pride, and joy.

If he wasn't, Gilan would have never trained under McNeil; the kingdom's finest swordmaster.

When I asked for permission to have the boy as an apprentice, David had looked me in the eye, and made me promise that he would be safe.

I had promised and then I had failed.

Most probably, he would be dead in a few days. The head wound was severe and Gilan had lost a lot of blood. I dare say it. I was starting to take a liking to that irresponsible boy.

I stopped that train of thought, and focused my eyes, and brain on the falling rain. The wind was brutal; forcing the rain into my eyes, and mouth. Strangely enough some of them were salty; though I was nowhere near the sea.

I reached up to wipe some of the rain from my face. That was when I realized that it wasn't rain.

It was the _first_ time that I had ever cried in my adult life.

_Meanwhile at Harin's inn…_

"Water, Mira"

Crowley snapped at the inn girl as he was preparing to stitch up the cut on Gilan's temple. The apprentice was stretched out on a dusty table in the middle of the tap room; his blood staining the table and the floor, concentrated on the area he was attacked on not too long ago

"Yes, sir" Mira muttered then weaved through the tables; heading for the kitchen of the deserted inn.

Everyone else had left when they found out about the injury to the ranger, and the two other rangers present. She walked back to him, and handed him the pitcher of water.

"I need the sharpest and skinniest needle you can find, and I'm sure you have thread in here." Crowley looked around the dingy inn.

The healer was out of town, attending to a patient in Whitby fief thus, Crowley was going to have to improvise. He was not an experienced healer, the most he had ever managed was a broken collarbone and that was nothing compared to this severe head wound. Frankly, he was worried about accidently killing the boy himself. Mira returned with a needle and thread. The needle was dull, and if Gilan was awake it would have been very painful. Luckily he wasn't.

He threaded the eye of the needle, and with a deep breath leaned over the boy and inserted the needle into his skin.

Halt POV

Abelard's hooves sounded on the wooden drawbridge. Below, the churning grey waters of the castle moat were pattered with t raindrops; creating a rhythm of sort.

I approached the guards before the iron gate. They were used to keeping people out of where they shouldn't be. One of the men was thick, and short with a red mess that Halt guessed was his beard. The other tall, unbelievably skinny, even more so than Gilan himself, had a mop of pale almost white blonde hair

"Stand, and be recognized" The thick redhead said, his voice not like what anyone would expect. It was high and nasal.

"Halt, ranger 2" I said briefly while fumbling to reach the oak leaf pendant just below the collar of my tunic. I grabbed it, and held it up to the two guards. One of them, the blonde; plucked it out of my hand, examining it, no doubt trying to look official.

I inwardly sighed._ I didn't have time for this!_

While Gilan was possibly dying, and David most likely leaving the castle soon, I had to get through.

"What's your business here" The skinny one sneered

"Wouldn't you like to know" I muttered under my breath. What little patience I had with people like him was wearing thin.

"What was th-" the tall, skinny, blonde guard was interrupted by me dismounting; then grabbing his waist, and proceeding to throw him into the choppy and deep moat.

I turned to the redhead. He just stared at me then mumbled something along the lines of "Go on in." Then in a smaller voice added "Please don't hurt me…sir" He smiled obviously trying to get on my good side.

I decided that I would have to report these idiot guards to David. What kind of guard would let someone walk right into a castle when they just threw someone in a moat?

That was not my problem though. It was only a temporary distraction to the inevitable. The inevitable being me telling David about Gilan.

_No_! I scolded myself. _I was not going to_ _think about that until it is time_ _to_.

_Wait_. I thought suddenly.

Gilan had a bleeding head wound. It would take a very hard punch to cause that. I had been watching the fight, and the punch didn't look like it would hurt that much. _Unless_…

My eyes widened with realization, I spurred Abelard, and galloped back to Harin as fast as I could.

_David would have to wait._

**Did anyone catch the Icebound Land reference? I couldn't help but put it in there XD. So about my problem with the Gilan should have been knocked out, I came up with a reason Of why he wasn't. You should be expecting it in the next chapter. Does anyone have a theory about why Halt was riding back to Harin?**

**See ya'll next chapter**

**-Silvermist**


	8. Chapter 7-One Important detail

**Hullo citizens of Araluen,**

**I am sooooooooooo sorry about the update…ughhh writer's block….. You all know how it is. This chapter is a bit fillerish…ugggh I hate writing filler… Any way on a brighter note..well brighter for me XD.. I'm going to summer camp next Sunday for two weeks! I'll try to fit one more update before I go;)**

**Answer to guest reviews:**

**Unfocused And Confused: Hey! I'm so glad you dropped a review inJ You guys are both great betas and you are right about the McNeil/ MacNeil thing.**

**Thanks for review: Dash99, Lorrie the Ninja Elf and Unfocused and Confused**

**REVIEW! (Guest reviews are enabled)**

Chapter 7- One Important Detail

-Seriya Silvermist

Crowley POV

The boy was shivering again; of anything…shivering. It was at least 90 degrees in Harin, and even more in the inn. His head was beaded with sweat making it very hard to stich it up, and of course the shivering was not helping at all. I was almost done; the large cut had taken hours to sew just over half way up.

The galloping hooves of a horse could be heard throughout the town; ringing against the flagstones that lined the marketplace. This I knew was not a familiar animal for no horse I had met would make that much noise, nor run through any town at that pace. That was why I questioned the sounds of the animal drawing near when Picad greeted the rider with a friendly nicker. Who could it be; no ranger horse would make that much sound even if they were riding that fast, and no knight he had often worked with would have the decency to arrive unannounced like this.

_Focus Crowley_! I scolded myself. I had one of my closest friend's son's life in my hands, and I was thinking about a galloping horse of all things! That was the curse of being a ranger, you tended to get distracted from the smallest of things that a normal person wouldn't notice…or at least I did. I absolutely did not doubt that Halt got distracted too.

"Crowley…..Crowley….CROWLEY!" A familiar voice sounded behind me. "Stop, the bo-"

"What are you doing here Halt, I've got it under control!" I was seething, Halt thinking I couldn't take care of a situation; like usual

"Under control?" Halt retorted sarcastically "you seemed to overlook one important detail"

"And what was that?" I shot back. Halt was a good friend, but he got….annoying at times. No annoying was not the right word…maybe…vexatious. Yes, vexatious; Halt was _very_ vexatious.

"You saw the fight, Crowley, the punch; it couldn't have done that much damage."

"You thin-"

"I'm sure" This was bad. Halt thought the stranger had, had a blade in his hand; poisoned by how Gilan was suffering. I immediately stopped sewing, and started to undo the last stiches. If the blade had been poisoned we had to track it down and find out the type of toxin they had used. Now that would be a problem.

"Mira!" I called to the blonde girl. "Where did they take the man's body?"

"It's right-" Mira's voice trailed off.

"…..Mira, what's wrong" I was wary of the next thing the girl was going to say.

"It's not here" The serving girl muttered; almost in a trance.

"What do you mean it's not here?" I demanded feeling slightly perturbed

"It's gone." Than seeing the look of utter confusion; than the anger that replaced it she continued "Come and see for yourself, sir"

I pushed myself up from my spot on the floor, and hurried over to spot the body had been. What Mira had said was true…it was _gone_.

I screamed in frustration and defeat; then kicked the solid table next to me. Two lives;….two lives; my mistakes had almost cost me two lives;…almost. There was no way…whoever they are…was going to get away with almost killing my best friend, and basically…well…killing, his apprentice, but neither of them were dead….yet.

I mean all the corps knew Halt would get himself killed eventually….it was only a matter of time. Halt was what one would call….reckless…. and lawless for that matter.

But Gilan was still young. Of what I had seen from the apprentice I could tell he had promise. I didn't miss how light on his feet he was; most likely from sword training, or how he almost naturally was blending into the back ground when he stood still. Sure there were a couple of problems, like the fact that every single emotion played out clearly on his face, but that could be taken care of.

"Halt, come here" I commanded, slightly frustrated

"Crowley" Halt responded as stoic as usual

"Go outside and search for relatively fresh tracks; ones with two people riding one horse."

"And what do you wish to accomplish with this?" He asked sarcastically

"Well the body had to go somewhere" I retorted slightly annoyed with my friend

"I suppose you're right" He muttered defeated

I momentarily enjoyed my small victory. It was rare when I…or anyone for that matter got the better of Halt…Well rare was an understatement and I enjoyed beating the odds.

I was jolted back to reality when Mira asked "What about Gilan?"

"Ahhh….do you know where the closest healer is?"

"In Carney I believe" Carney was an even smaller town south of Harin, that was all I knew about.

"How far away is it?"

"About two days ride….Why do you ask?" She looked slightly perturbed

"…Can you ride a horse Mira?" This plan was not the greatest I had ever had….but it would have to do. What else could we have done in this situation? It's not as if we could have told Gilan to get up and walk there.

"You mean…." She turned stark white "I can't…I won't…I-"

"Will! You will!" She was starting to get on my nerves..and it was not often that I got angry. "Don't you realize this isn't about some little personal vendetta? Just because he was richer than you; maybe sat around in a castle with an easy life…. Well that's what it is…It's his _life_ Mira."

The girl looked at me terrified. Then her jaw tightened and her back straightened; determined. She wiped the tears from her eyes and said "You're right…" She sat down in a chair.

"Mira, Mira look at me" I knelt down next to her. "If it helps any" I said with a small smile. "He's a ranger now not a noble….noble's don't go tromping around the woods or dancing with inn girls for that matter."

She laughed a little "I suppose you're right, but it's so hard not to despise nobles. They sit around in their castles and eat all day, sit behind a desk filling out paper work and have people serve them. They don't have to work to live; they don't work to live like everyone else!"

"I know Mira believe me… I know"

Mira turned towards the stables out back but suddenly turned back around and questioned "Sir…how did he ..you know…become a ranger?"

My eyes sparkled with mirth. "Not all of us don't get into battle school you know"

**Did ya'll catch my reference? Comment it for a virtual cookie! And guess what…more Mira! I never expected to make her a relevant character... tell me what you think! Thanks to Savannah Silverstone for betaing!**

**-Silvermist**


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